TOPIC 1

INTRODUCTION TO QUALITY​

1. Concept of quality
Quality means different things for different people, can be defined from several different
perspectives:

Quality ≠ Luxury.

A) QUALITY AS AN ATTRIBUTE OR CHARACTERISTIC OF SOMETHING

It is usually associated with those things that are “well done” (→ Reliability). Challenges:

-​ it requires to define what aspects define something as “well done”,

-​ What is considered “good” is subjective.

GARVIN (1988) classified Quality in 5 ways:

1) PRODUCT-BASED APPROACH = Quality is found in the

components and attributes of a product. It is a precise and
measurable variable. → Security (Iberia), ingredients of a
product (of an ice cream: butter-fat content), performance
(Renfe).

(2) USER-BASED APPROACH = If the product or service

meets or exceeds customers’ expectations, it has good quality.

Customers often regard quality as a comparison of the service

standards expected when purchasing a service, compared to
their perceptions of service experience.

Customer satisfaction is the outcome when expectations are matched by service experience
(dissatisfaction: mismatch and expectations are not fulfilled by the service delivery).

(3) MANUFACTURING-BASED APPROACH = If the product conforms to the design

specifications, it has good quality.

It is concerned with minimizing deviations from the standards in the producer’s technical
sècifications → Iphone, Audi, ...

Goods meeting internal specifications therefore conform to the manufacturer’s requirements,

whether or not customers are satisfied.

(Example: Six Sigma methodology focuses on manufacturing-based quality, aiming to

minimize defects and errors in production processes to achieve near-perfect quality levels.
(4) VALUE-BASED APPROACH = If the product is perceived as providing good value for
the price, it has good quality. (+) Quality (-) Price = VALUE​
Expected Value = Perceived benefits and Perceived sacrifice.

(Example: When purchasing a smartphone, value-based quality considers factors such as

features, performance, durability, and brand reputation relative to the price paid for the
device.)

(5) TRANSCENDENT APPROACH = Quality is something that is intuitively understood but

nearly impossible to communicate, such as beauty or love. Quality varies between
individuals and over time. (Example: Masterpieces of art.)

B) QUALITY AS A WAY OF IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATED TO QUALITY APPROACHES

AND SYSTEMS ​ ​

→ Quality according to ISO 9001: Degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills
requirements.

2. Strategic importance of quality

Quality is achieved through customers’ expectations, therefore, organizations must
understand customer needs and expectations to meet and exceed them. Customers' needs
and expectations can be achieved through quality improvements. Quality is important to the
customer. In today’s highly competitive global economy, a company cannot survive and stay
in business unless they are able to provide high quality products and services. Improving
quality can help organizations increase market share and profitability.

This figure shows how improving quality can help organizations increase their market share
and increase profitability

Close relation between quality, profitability and market share: Improvement in

products/service quality leads to higher perceived value by customers, which increases
market share. Also, the higher perceived value by customers leads to claim higher prices,
increase revenues and then increase profits. Reduced defects, minimize waste, improve
cycle time leads to reduce cost of poor quality, lower overall costs, improve productivity and
meet and exceed customers’ expectations.

3. Dimensions of quality for a product

Dimensions of quality: specify the characteristics that the product or service should possess
in order to be high quality. The recognition + the selection of these dimensions is critical to
business success. (Sahay, 2016: 3)

8 Dimensions to describe a PRODUCT quality (Garvin, 1987):

1.​ Performance: Does the product do the job? It refers to its primary and measurable
characteristics. → speed, conford, color picture clarity, ... Some are based on
subjective preferences, but the preferences are so universal that they have the force
of an objective standard.
2.​ Features: Does it have features beyond the basic ones? They are usually secondary
aspects of performance: Characteristics that supplement the basic functions, they
involve objective and measurable attributes.
3.​ Reliability: will it last a long time? It reflects the probability of a product
malfunctioning or failing within a specified time period. It’s more relevant to durable
goods than to products and services that are consumed instantly. It normally
becomes more important to customers as downtime and maintenance become more
expensive.
4.​ Conformance: does it conform with the designed specifications? The degree to
which a product’s design and operating characteristics meet established standards.
All products (and services) involve specifications of some sort. These specifications
are normally expressed as a target or “center”. Deviance (desviación) from the center
is permitted within a specified range. It equates good quality with operating inside a
tolerance band.
5.​ Durability: can the product tolerate stress without failure? Technical dimension: the
amount of use one gets from a product before it deteriorates. Economic dimension:
the amount of use one gets from a product before it breaks down and replacement is
preferable to continued repair.
6.​ Serviceability: can it be fixed easily and cost effectively? It refers to the speed,
courtesy, competence and ease of repair. Some variables reflect differing personal
standards of acceptable service. Others can be measured quite objectively.
7.​ Aesthetics: does it have sensory characteristics (taste, etc...)? How a product looks,
feels, sounds, tastes, or smells. It’s very subjective depending on personal
preferences.
8.​ Perceived quality: Do consumers have complete information about a product? What
could be an indirect measure of perceived quality? What is the customer's opinion?
-​ Consumers do not always have complete information about a product’s or
service’s attributes.
-​ Indirect measures may be their only basis for comparing brands.
-​ Reputation is the primary stuff of perceived quality.
The dimensions of quality of a service are the service variables that defined the level of
quality in each of the phases/steps of the contact chain

The objective is to identify , from the client's point of view, what aspects allow the client to
measure whether the service is good or bad )i.e if the company meet clients expectations)

10 Dimensions to describe a SERVICE quality (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, 1985):

1.​ Reliability: The ability to produce the promised service reliably and correctly.
2.​ Responsiveness: The willingness to help customers and provide the service with
the appropriate speed.
3.​ Competency: Skills and knowledge necessary to provide the service.
4.​ Courtesy: Education, respect, consideration and kindness of the service personnel.
5.​ Credibility: The honesty of the service provider.
6.​ Safety: The client feels free of risk, harm or doubt.
7.​ Access: Facility to contact and deal with staff.
8.​ Communication: Communicative ability to be understood by, and listen to, clients.
9.​ Comprehension of user: Efforts to understand customers and their needs.
10.​Tangibility: Appearance of the physical facilities, equipment, personnel and
advertising of the company

4. Quality dimensions and positioning

Does a company need to pursue all these quality dimensions? Not simultaneously. A product
or service can rank high on one and low on another. An improvement in one may be
achieved only at the expense of another. This interplay makes strategic quality management
possible. Challenge to managers: to compete on selected dimensions (to distinguish its
products). ​ ​ ​

There are 5 fundamental attributes to position your company in the mind of the client:

1.​ Price (Walmart, low-price impression is more important than the price itself)
2.​ Product. (Ritz-Carlton, BMW)
3.​ Service. (Emirates)
4.​ Access. (Starbucks, McDonalds)
5.​ Experience. (Disneyland)

Fred Crawford and Ryan Mathews destroyed the theory according to which every company
must be excellent in everything it does. According to them, large companies avoid falling into
the temptation to be the best in the five. → Choose an element/attribute in which they stand
out, A second one in which they are good And remain average in the remaining three.
MATRIX OF DIMENSIONS AND POSITIONING

​ ​ ​​

1. Price

Most businesses automatically assume customers want the lowest price possible.
Consumers want prices that are fair, honest, and consistent rather than cheap. They do
not want prices to be artificially increased just so they can be marked down by impressive
amounts during sales promotions. Consumer loyalty is won when a company’s pricing
method is perceived as essentially fair.

2. Product​
Consumers hate it when a business offers “value-added” services in one area while
failing miserably to do something basic in other areas.

3. Service​
Businesses assume customers want the highest possible quality. In reality, consumers
want products that are consistent with their given price point. That way, they can avoid
spending more money for top-of-the-line products if a less expensive item is good
enough for their needs.​
Instead of loads of options, consumers want consistent and reliable service which can
be customized as needed.

4. Access

Historically, access meant physical location.Today, consumers define access beyond real
estate, considering the perception of being able to navigate a business successfully and
interact when and where they want, with minimal interference.

5. Experience

●​ Experience represents the consumer’s response to all attributes.

●​ Many businesses mistakenly equate experience solely with entertainment.
●​ Experience-oriented customers want a sense of closeness matched with a solid
value proposition, i.e., a combination they cannot get anywhere else.
●​ While service reflects how consumers feel about a business after a transaction,
experience reflects how they feel about themselves.
5. Challenges of managing quality in the hospitality sector
“Why not merely run an airline which is so good that it never has any problems? May I
assure you that we are in a service business, and service businesses deal with people.
There is never one perfect set of answers for dealing with people's problems, otherwise they
would not be people. What makes service businesses so interesting and so complex is that
their prime stake in trade is people relations , and we are expected to handle those relations
in the hurly burly of commerce, not in the quiet professionalism of a therapist’s room”

A service is an activity or a series of activities of a more or less intangible nature that

normally, but not necessarily, take place in interactions between the client and the service
employees and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service provider, which
are provided as solutions to customer problems (Grönroos).

A product is an object and a service is the provision of a service.

Difference between a product and a service:

-​ Degree of tangibility: products are tangible and we can try them, look at them, small
them... The opposite happens with services:
-​
-​ Difficulty in measuring and establishing standards.
-​ Higher number of parameters that implies a higher risk. The number of
observable characteristics of a product in relation to the ones of a service is 1
to 10 (Horovitz). These parameters cannot be sometimes controlled.
-​ How to overcome this difference gap? “Tangibilizing” services.

-​ Degree of homogeneity:
-​ A product is always the same, each service is unique.
-​ It’s very difficult that 2 services offer the same experience because services
are offered by people.
-​ Quality depends on who is providing the service, the client and the situation.

-​ Sequence of production and consumption:

-​ Products are manufactured, then sold and finally consumed. Client is almost
never present in the manufacturing process.
-​ Services are first sold and then provided and consumed simultaneously and
often with the presence of the client and the provider.
-​ The provision and consumption of a service are inseparable:
​ ● Quality control is made by the client​
● There is always direct contact with the client. The production
process is more visible and the client usually participates in this
process (lack of standardization that makes difficult an uniform level of
quality)​​ ​ ​
● It’s not possible to try​
 ● The presence of the client is an opportunity to get information about
the client and adapt to his/her needs.
​
-​ Storability:
-​ Services cannot be stored
-​ A service not consumed is a lost service